0:01

Hey, it's Phelan, host of The Secret Life

0:03

of Canada. The Secret Life recently released a

0:05

deep dive into Treaty 6, and

0:07

I'm usually shocked by what we uncover when

0:09

we look into Canadian history, but this episode

0:11

has really stayed with me. There's

0:13

deception, deceit, mistranslations, and a whole lot

0:15

of unfulfilled promises that may have led

0:17

up to the largest mass hanging in

0:19

Canadian history. Check out Treaty 6 on

0:22

The Secret Life of Canada, wherever you

0:24

get your podcasts. This

0:29

is a CBC Podcast. Hello,

0:32

I'm Neil Kokesal. And I'm Chris Howden.

0:34

This is As It Happens, the Podcast Edition.

0:45

Tonight. A united storm front after Hurricane

0:47

Beryl slams into his island nation, the

0:49

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the

0:52

Grenadines says it is time for the

0:54

rich countries causing climate change to get

0:56

serious about tackling it. People

0:58

also hit Grenada, devastating whole neighborhoods and knocking

1:00

out power and phone lines. We'll talk to

1:03

a woman in Ontario who has so far

1:05

been unable to get hold of her husband

1:07

there. Power Surge, a

1:09

constitutional scholar, tells us the US

1:12

Supreme Court's decision to expand presidential

1:14

immunity paves the way for an

1:16

American autocracy. There's one major

1:18

catch. A week after Ottawa announced the

1:21

end of the Northern Cod Moratorium, the

1:23

president of a Newfoundland Fish Workers Union

1:25

calls that decision a travesty that threatens

1:27

30 years of progress. Here

1:30

comes the fried and the deep fried. A

1:32

bride in the UK tells us why it

1:34

was her dream come true, to celebrate her

1:36

wedding at a highway rest stop with some

1:38

fast food. And how

1:40

the author half lived. In ancient

1:43

Egypt, scribes were upstanding members of

1:45

society who spent most of their

1:47

time down-sitting, which played havoc with

1:49

their body language. As it

1:51

happens, the Tuesday edition, radio that guesses

1:53

the job options back then were pharaoh

1:56

to middling. Hurricane

2:01

Beryl is

2:04

careening through the

2:06

Caribbean, flattening everything

2:09

in its path.

2:17

The storm has already killed at least

2:19

four people since making landfall in the

2:22

southeast Caribbean. It's the earliest

2:24

Category 5 storm ever to form in the

2:26

Atlantic, thanks to record warm waters, and the

2:28

UN's Weather and Climate Agency warns this is

2:30

just the start of a very dangerous hurricane

2:33

season. That's why leaders like

2:35

Ralph Gonzalez are calling on the countries

2:37

responsible for global warming to step up.

2:39

Mr. Gonzalez is the Prime Minister of St.

2:41

Vincent and the Grenadines, which was hit hard

2:44

yesterday. We reached him in the capital, Kingstown.

2:47

Prime Minister Gonzalez, it's calmer today, I

2:49

know, but that calm

2:51

also reveals all of

2:54

the damage. What are you seeing? So

2:56

there's complete devastation in Union

2:59

Island and Mayrou, and

3:03

substantial loss in

3:05

Kyanawan and as it came up through

3:08

the islands, passed

3:10

back way and then on to the main island

3:13

of St. Vincent. We

3:15

had horrendous damage, but the

3:17

devastation is in the

3:19

southern part of the island

3:21

chain. You

3:24

said that on Union Island, 90% of the homes. 90%

3:28

of the houses, the hospital is gone, the airport

3:31

building is gone.

3:38

There's nothing normal there now. We

3:41

are sending food and water

3:44

and other supplies. We're sending the

3:47

coast guard to take out a

3:49

few persons who would

3:51

have been injured. We're

3:54

trying to establish back normal

3:57

communication. Island,

4:00

we were cut off. So too,

4:02

the island

4:06

of Myro, we were

4:08

cut off. There was no communication also with

4:10

Kyanawan. The terrible time during

4:12

the passage of the hurricane. What

4:14

did you hear and see from where

4:16

you were when it made landfall initially

4:19

there? I had made

4:21

arrangements actually to go downstairs at the

4:23

official residence because part

4:25

of the residence was built many years

4:27

ago and your part and

4:30

I was fearful that the roof would lift off

4:33

and I made arrangements to go downstairs. But

4:36

while I was there and locked

4:38

in, the wind

4:41

was just howling and you

4:43

see the trees breaking around you, the

4:45

branches going hither and

4:47

thither and just

4:50

banging against the building.

4:53

It's an awesome power of

4:55

nature. I wouldn't want you

4:58

my dear sister

5:02

ever to be in that situation. It's

5:06

really frightening. We

5:09

know this is happening earlier than ever.

5:11

We know scientists point to climate change

5:13

as the reason it is happening. What

5:16

do you want the international community

5:19

to take away from what you

5:21

have all just experienced and what others are

5:23

going to experience? The international

5:26

community knows what we're experiencing in a

5:28

small island developing states and vulnerable countries

5:30

to climate change. They know

5:32

they have to move the net zero and

5:34

they know they have to assist with resources

5:37

for adaptation and mitigation and you

5:39

have a lot of talk from them but

5:41

you don't see the resources

5:43

and sometimes you get the

5:45

impression that when you

5:47

have the conference

5:49

of parties gatherings

5:52

under the United Nations framework

5:54

convention and climate change. Sometimes

5:57

you wonder if they're just sending the fool a

5:59

little further. human civilization.

6:03

We are not serious about dealing with the issue

6:05

of climate change and when

6:09

this earth becomes

6:11

inhospitable as it

6:14

is increasingly becoming then

6:16

it would be too late. So

6:19

these are habingas of the future.

6:23

And I'm sure you said much

6:25

the same when you were at COP 28 last year in

6:27

Dubai. Wealthy

6:30

countries responsible for where

6:32

we're at in terms of climate change pledged

6:34

700 million dollars to the

6:37

new loss and damage fund to

6:39

help countries like yours. What

6:42

did you make of that amount and that promise?

6:44

You can access loss and damage fund only

6:47

after you've had lost and damage. What about

6:49

what happens before? So that's the

6:51

first point. But you're

6:53

setting up a loss and damage fund time but

6:57

then you have a puny some pledged. Look

7:00

in 2017 when Dominica was completely

7:04

devastated with Hurricane Maria

7:07

what you have inside of the fund loss

7:10

and damage fund now would

7:13

have been insufficient to address

7:15

Dominica's loss and damage from

7:17

one Hurricane, Hurricane

7:19

Maria. That's how ludicrous this

7:21

thing is. We know Canada

7:23

held and our listeners may remember held a

7:25

summit the first of its kind last October

7:28

with Caribbean leaders to try to push Prime

7:30

Minister Trudeau to get climate change

7:32

funding on the international agenda. What

7:34

specifically do you want from the

7:37

Canadian government? I want

7:39

them to continue their serious advocacy. It

7:42

is true that Justin

7:45

Trudeau speaks about

7:48

this matter you know with

7:51

commitment not just with passion with commitment

7:53

and we appreciate that and some

7:57

resources have been put but

7:59

I think Everybody knows that far more can

8:02

be done. And he has to get his

8:04

neighbors to the south if he can, help persuade

8:06

them. And of course, his

8:09

European colleagues. And

8:12

I'm not sure that that is happening.

8:15

In fact, there's no evidence that that

8:17

is happening, even though he's trying. I

8:19

wonder how you start

8:22

to rebuild when you're just at the start of

8:24

this season. As you said, I mean, are you

8:26

able to get help to the people who need

8:28

it on Union Island? And elsewhere? Well,

8:31

we are doing that right now. As I

8:33

speak, a boatload

8:36

of supplies are going down. And

8:39

we have sent the coast guard and the

8:41

medivac vessel to take

8:44

injured persons out. We're

8:47

strengthening the security, the other

8:50

medical personnel on the ground. And

8:54

we're doing what we can.

8:57

You know, we are small. And

9:00

we have limited resources. But

9:03

we use these resources sensibly. And

9:07

we will survive and we will thrive. When

9:09

you look out, Prime Minister, what is the

9:12

emotion that comes with that? Well,

9:14

I tell you this. I can't afford

9:16

those emotions. I have

9:18

to be patient and calm. And

9:21

I have to know that sun

9:25

brightness, stone, even as the greener

9:27

leaves explode and all the

9:29

rivers burn. Prime

9:34

Minister Gonzales, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

9:37

Thank you very much. Ralph

9:40

Gonzales is the Prime Minister of St. Vincent

9:42

and the Grenadines. He's in Kingstown. Hurricane

9:44

Beryl also ravaged nearby Grenada. Most

9:46

of the country is now without

9:48

electricity and telecommunications. So it's a

9:51

huge challenge to reach anyone there.

9:53

Emily Edwards knows that all too well.

9:55

She moved from Canada to Grenada last

9:57

year. But right now, she's backing on...

9:59

Ontario with her three kids for what

10:01

was supposed to be a one month

10:03

stay and she can't reach her husband

10:05

Dwayne who's still in Grenada. We reached

10:08

Emily Edwards in Belleville. Emily

10:11

when was the last time you heard from your husband? Yesterday

10:14

at 10 o'clock in the morning. Did

10:17

you speak about, what did he tell you about what

10:20

was happening on the island? He

10:23

shared with me that the wooden gates to our

10:25

back fence had fallen off and I asked him

10:27

if he was able to get a video or

10:29

a picture for me, which he did as he

10:32

sent the video. And then

10:34

after that I noticed on Facebook

10:36

that there was an evacuation order shared for

10:41

our area. So I sent him that. His

10:44

response was an auto correct of

10:46

some sort. I don't know what

10:48

it meant. She said years like

10:50

Y-E-A-R-S and I responded

10:52

with two question marks and I

10:55

didn't get a response after that. How

10:58

was he feeling, just your sense

11:01

of before the storm hit when you were

11:03

able to communicate more regularly? How was he

11:06

feeling about the fact that Grenada

11:08

was going to be hit? I

11:12

think he was very scared. He's

11:15

not someone who would say

11:17

that out loud. As I keep saying,

11:19

he's absolutely the bravest person I know.

11:22

But I could tell that he was worried. I think

11:25

he was worried about doing the right thing. He stayed

11:27

back to stay with our dogs while my kids

11:29

and I came to his family right now. So

11:33

I think he

11:35

knew, he had a job to do,

11:38

but he was, I think,

11:40

really scared. He's

11:42

a veteran of the Canadian Armed

11:44

Forces, is that right? Yeah, he is. Does

11:47

that give you, I don't know, I can

11:50

only imagine how difficult it is to not hear back,

11:53

but does his particular skill set

11:55

and who he is give

11:57

you comfort during this time? 100%.

12:05

He, I know he is trained

12:07

to handle himself in emergencies. I

12:09

know he is capable of leading

12:11

other people. I

12:13

know there would be no one

12:15

better to boost morale amongst the

12:17

people he's with than him.

12:20

And I actually, a really good

12:22

friend of mine, she said, if there's

12:26

anything stronger than a category

12:28

for hurricane, it would be

12:30

your husband. And

12:32

I think that it couldn't be wet or

12:35

put. He is

12:37

very capable. And I know that he

12:39

will take care of whoever he can.

12:43

What do you know so far? What have you

12:45

been able to learn about the damage done in

12:47

your neighborhood there? I

12:51

haven't had any definitive pictures

12:54

or reports or communications directly

12:57

from our neighborhood.

13:00

Just as you called actually, we saw an update

13:03

from one of the storm chasers had videos of

13:05

windward. So I'm going to watch, try to see.

13:08

But I do know, I saw a

13:10

video shared of where

13:12

the emergency shelter that he was supposed

13:15

to go to was, and it was

13:17

completely decimated like to the ground, not

13:19

a roof off, not some walls off.

13:21

It was a pile of rubble. So

13:23

I still am hopeful he got

13:25

there and wasn't at our house, which

13:28

was at sea level and directly

13:31

at risk in terms of water. So I'm

13:34

hopeful that he,

13:36

you know, he got where he needed

13:38

to be. But my understanding is the

13:40

entire, our direct community is essentially gone.

13:43

I'm sorry. Thank you. You've only recently, I

13:45

mean, just last year as our listeners heard,

13:48

made the move and decided to continue,

13:51

you know, your lives there, make a

13:53

new life there. It's just a year

13:55

on. So how does that sit with

13:57

you today? There's

14:01

a lot of mixed feelings, I think. I'd

14:05

like to say that if

14:07

I could look back and say we never would have

14:09

done this and we would all be here. But

14:12

I don't think that that's the right answer

14:14

either. We

14:17

found a home there. We

14:19

have a home, we're Canadian, we have ties here.

14:21

I'm actually a travel nurse in Northern Ontario. There's

14:25

a lot of good things that came

14:27

from this adventure that opened up opportunities.

14:29

And honestly, we

14:32

didn't know anything about Carriacou before we went.

14:34

My husband's family is actually from the main

14:36

island of Grenada. And

14:39

we were fortunate to find this little

14:41

place that is so tiny and beautiful.

14:45

And we have made a life there. And

14:47

I think that's the part that I'm thinking

14:49

of not just him, but all of the

14:51

people that we've become close to. To

14:55

know, Carriacou

14:58

is a place that takes care of itself and

15:00

we take care of each other. And

15:03

the thought that what we

15:06

had and what our neighbours had, they

15:08

can't even take care of themselves like that

15:11

anymore is paralyzing.

15:16

But you imagine your life there again

15:20

after all of this has passed? I

15:23

am dreaming of sitting at

15:25

the sunrise disco and being

15:28

the worst domino player at

15:30

the table. And

15:33

I picture myself back there.

15:38

I can't say that I can picture our day to

15:40

day life in the same way. But

15:42

I also know that our little piece

15:45

of paradise that we promised each

15:47

other we would have is still

15:49

there. And the house might not

15:51

be, but our land

15:53

is there. And that

15:55

will be there forever. And

15:58

we do want to go back. And I

16:00

kind of feel now, you know, I have

16:02

a responsibility to go

16:05

back and to do something because

16:07

I was lucky enough to be here and my kids

16:09

were lucky enough to be here and safe and not

16:11

going through that. There's

16:15

a future for me in Carapoo because I

16:17

was able to be safe right now.

16:19

I just don't know what that really looks

16:21

like. That's all. Many of us have

16:24

only seen pictures and it certainly does look beautiful, but

16:26

the picture you paint from your experience and the reasons

16:28

you chose to move your family there. Paint

16:32

a beautiful picture as well, Emily. I

16:34

hope you hear from Duane soon. I

16:37

appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank

16:39

you so much. Take care. We

16:42

reached Emily Edwards in Belleville, Ontario. Her

16:44

husband Duane is currently in Grenada. This

17:17

nation was founded on the principle that

17:20

there are no kings in America. Each of us

17:22

is equal before the law. No

17:24

one, no one is above the law,

17:28

not even the president of the United States. That

17:32

fundamentally changed. And

17:35

it's a dangerous precedent because

17:37

the power of the office will no longer be

17:39

constrained by the law, even including

17:41

the Supreme Court in the United States. U.S.

17:44

President Joe Biden reacting to yesterday's

17:46

Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.

17:49

The landmark six to three decision

17:51

defined the scope of executive immunity,

17:53

ruling that a president cannot be

17:55

prosecuted for official acts performed while

17:57

in office. Today the first

18:00

effect. The facts of that ruling were felt,

18:02

as sentencing in Donald Trump's so-called hush money

18:04

case was pushed back to September to allow

18:06

the judge to consider the impact of the

18:08

Supreme Court decision. Among the

18:10

many critics of the immunity decision

18:12

is Lawrence Tribe, a professor of

18:14

constitutional law emeritus at Harvard University.

18:16

We reached him in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

18:20

Professor, from where you sit, what is

18:22

the worst case scenario here? Not only

18:24

if Donald Trump retakes the presidency, but

18:26

for all presidents in the future. Essentially

18:29

that they become kings,

18:31

unrestrained in the way our

18:33

Constitution from the beginning

18:35

was intended to impose checks and

18:37

balances on the president.

18:40

It essentially means

18:42

that the president can do

18:45

whatever he wants, including commit

18:47

serious crimes, grievous crimes,

18:49

as long as they

18:52

can be characterized as involving

18:54

an exercise of his official

18:56

powers, so that

18:58

the kind of immunity that the

19:00

court has granted is just staggering,

19:03

completely unfounded and

19:05

unprecedented in the history of

19:07

our republic. Well, I

19:09

was going to ask you if you were

19:11

stunned by this decision or bracing for it,

19:14

given what the court has decided on other

19:16

cases. I

19:18

have to admit that very

19:20

little the current court does

19:23

stuns me because it has become

19:25

so extreme. But I

19:28

believe that the court's inexcusable delay

19:30

of the case was clearly

19:33

designed to help Donald

19:35

Trump make it impossible for him to

19:37

be tried before the election or the

19:39

various things he did to try to

19:42

overturn the 2020 election. But

19:45

beyond that, I thought,

19:47

as did almost every American

19:49

legal scholar, that the

19:51

court would, in the

19:53

end, say that there is a very,

19:56

very limited degree, if at all,

19:58

of immunity. for

20:00

ex-presidents from criminal prosecution.

20:04

Alexander Hamilton and many

20:07

of our other framers made

20:09

it clear that they expected that the president,

20:12

when he left office, would be

20:14

an ordinary citizen fully accountable under

20:17

the law to the criminal

20:20

justice system. And I

20:22

thought that with some possible

20:25

limitations, that's where the court would

20:27

come out. Instead, having

20:29

given Donald Trump

20:31

the gift of delay, delay,

20:33

delay, it gave every

20:35

future president the absolutely

20:40

staggering power to ignore

20:44

all of the laws in the country, criminal

20:47

as well as civil in

20:50

carrying out even

20:52

a plot to overturn the

20:54

government because

20:56

the court said that the president's

20:59

motives can't be taken into account.

21:02

That's jaw-dropping. It certainly

21:04

did shock me. Chief

21:07

Justice Roberts, as you know, but to

21:09

let our listeners know, the Chief Justice

21:11

wrote that immunity ensures a president has,

21:13

quote, the maximum ability to deal fearlessly

21:15

and impartially, unquote, to make the difficult

21:17

decisions that come with the job. When

21:19

you look at those words, what do

21:21

you take away from those words and

21:23

that argument? It seems

21:26

to me that the Chief Justice and

21:28

those who joined him are far more

21:30

worried about something that has never happened

21:33

in our history, namely a

21:35

president who was afraid to exercise

21:37

his power than they

21:39

are about something that has

21:42

already happened, and that is someone

21:44

who makes every

21:46

effort to overturn the people's

21:49

verdict that he should leave office.

21:52

It turned the world upside down.

21:54

It made me think of the

21:57

upside-down American flag that Justice Alito

22:00

was of course part of this majority was

22:03

flying at his home. It just

22:05

doesn't make sense. It's as though the majority

22:08

is sort of fawning over

22:10

the macho image of

22:12

a dictator like, much the

22:15

way that Donald Trump frankly

22:17

fawns over over key and

22:19

Putin and that it's really

22:21

not a pleasant opinion to

22:23

read. You wrote an

22:25

opinion piece in the New York Times

22:27

suggesting potential remedy and people are, I'm

22:29

sure, who are upset about this decision,

22:31

wondering how can we fix this? Can

22:33

it be fixed? What are you suggesting

22:35

there? What would it look like? Well,

22:38

it seems to me that a very large part

22:40

of the problem that

22:42

we now confront comes from the fact

22:45

the president can use the

22:47

Department of Justice and the Attorney General

22:50

in order to carry out the plot.

22:52

That part of what Donald

22:54

Trump is accused of having done,

22:56

that is trying to use the

22:58

Justice Department in order to pressure

23:01

states to create fake electoral flates.

23:03

That was the

23:05

core of what he's now protected

23:08

from being prosecuted for. One

23:11

solution would be to sever the

23:13

connection between the president and the

23:15

Department of Justice, the way

23:17

over 40 states in the United States

23:19

and many foreign countries do. And

23:22

that it have a completely independent prosecutorial

23:25

arm so that the president can't

23:28

make any decisions about who

23:30

should be subject to prosecution.

23:32

It would take a constitutional

23:34

amendment. Those are difficult

23:36

in our system, but the amendment

23:38

process doesn't require any

23:40

involvement by a sitting president, and

23:43

we ought to start at least thinking about

23:46

long-term pain. But right now we confront a

23:49

crisis, a crisis that

23:51

really has to be dealt

23:53

with before we can get

23:55

to the kind of future

23:57

I envision. You know the law, Utah

23:59

Constitution. law at Harvard for five decades.

24:01

You've argued dozens of cases before the

24:04

Supreme Court. How do you get

24:06

through these kinds of difficult days? Partly

24:09

by taking walks and looking

24:12

at the beautiful nature that

24:14

is abundant around us and

24:17

taking a deep breath and thinking that we've

24:20

gotten through other crises before

24:22

we overcame Hitler. We fought

24:25

a civil war. This is

24:27

of comparable magnitude, but I

24:29

think if all of us

24:31

of goodwill do everything within

24:33

our power to prevent Trump

24:35

from becoming president and taking

24:37

advantage of this extraordinary authority,

24:40

then we might get past this horrible

24:42

episode. Professor Tribe, I appreciate your time.

24:44

Thank you. Thank you. It's been a

24:46

pleasure talking to you. Lawrence

24:49

Tribe is a professor of constitutional

24:51

law emeritus at Harvard University. We

24:53

reached him in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So

25:16

it's been a long day. You had to

25:18

finish making notes on the cattle census. You

25:21

had to record four big grain deliveries. And

25:23

for 90 minutes, you took

25:25

dictation from the pharaoh who retold his

25:27

obviously made up story about riding a

25:29

hippo up a pyramid. You're

25:31

discouraged. So you call up your mentor and

25:34

say, this is hard work. Should I continue

25:36

to be a scribe? Thoth replies.

25:39

Thoth It's

25:49

not helpful, but what did you expect? Thoth may

25:51

be the god of wisdom and knowledge, but he

25:53

has the head of an ibis. No

25:55

one understands the pain of being a

25:58

scribe in ancient Egypt, and no one

26:00

will. Until 2024, that's when experts will

26:02

reveal that they've been looking at the

26:04

remains of dozens of ancient Egyptian scribes,

26:07

people whose job it was to make

26:09

note of everything that happened, from record

26:11

keeping to philosophizing. It was a high

26:13

status position, but like any of today's

26:16

administrative jobs, it wasn't easy. Looking

26:18

at the scribe's bones, these 21st century

26:21

scientists will observe various injuries and ailments

26:23

they sustained while scribing that damaged their

26:25

leg bones from their contorted postures while

26:27

writing cross legged or squatting, the damage

26:30

to their jaws from chewing the ends

26:32

of their pens which were made of

26:34

reeds to sharpen them, the damage to

26:37

their thumbs from gripping these reeds for

26:39

hours every day. They must have begged

26:41

Thoth to tell them whether the benefits

26:43

of scribing them were worth the pain.

26:46

And Thoth must have replied, Thoth!

26:50

Thoth! Thoth! Thoth! Thoth!

26:54

Thoth! Thoth! I should

26:56

mention that Thoth was also a baboon. Sometimes

26:58

he's not a great mentor, to be honest.

27:00

So scribes from 5,000 years

27:02

ago developed the same kinds of repetitive stress

27:04

injuries that we get today. The

27:07

difference is that they were celebrated for their

27:09

skills. Plus, they had a special relationship with

27:11

the God of Wisdom, so I

27:13

guess it's the Thoth that counts. When

27:47

was the last time you said, hmm, I

27:49

never thought about it that way. The Current

27:51

aims to give you that moment every single

27:53

day. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and our award-winning

27:56

team brings you stories and conversations to expand

27:58

your Sometimes they connect to the news of

28:00

the day, sometimes to the issues of our

28:02

time. And you'll hear all kinds of people

28:05

on the current, from best-selling authors, to the

28:07

prime minister, to maybe your

28:09

neighbor. Find

28:12

us wherever you get your podcasts, now

28:14

including YouTube. I'll talk to you soon. It's

28:20

been less than a week since Ottawa announced the end of the cod moratorium, and

28:24

already a Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries Union wants that

28:26

decision reversed. As we

28:28

told you last Wednesday, the end of the

28:30

moratorium is set to reopen a commercial northern

28:32

cod fishery for the first time since

28:34

it was shut down 32 years ago today. And

28:38

it will increase the number of tons of cod that

28:41

can be hauled in every year under the old stewardship fishery. Which

28:44

might seem like good news for the people doing the hauling, but

28:47

today the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union announced

28:49

that it is calling for the reopening to be reversed.

28:53

Greg Priddy is the president of the FFAW. We

28:56

reached him in St. John's. Greg,

28:58

how do you describe what the

29:00

federal fisheries minister has called a

29:02

historic decision? Well,

29:04

nothing historic about it, Neil. This

29:06

is a terrible decision. We've

29:08

waited 32 years. In

29:11

fact, the anniversary today was 32 years ago that

29:14

the feds closed the commercial cod

29:16

fishery in Newfoundland and

29:19

Labrador, and we've waited 32 years. We've

29:22

had a stewardship fishery here looking

29:24

after that resource for 32 years, and

29:28

her decision was an absolute disaster.

29:31

Not only does it put Canadian

29:33

draggers back on our cod grounds,

29:35

but it also reintroduces the NAFO

29:37

countries like Spain,

29:39

Portugal and Russia potentially

29:42

back on our grounds, fishing what

29:44

we consider to be an extremely small quota.

29:46

I want to dig into those details in

29:48

just a second, Greg, but

29:50

I wonder now that you mentioned it's the anniversary,

29:53

you know, thinking back to that day

29:55

three decades ago in your mind to

29:57

where we are today, did you think this is where we are

29:59

today? we'd be 32 years on where

30:01

you would be? No, no,

30:03

we never, very few people

30:06

thought we'd be in this position.

30:08

We spent 32 years nurturing

30:10

that fishery. We had

30:13

hopes that we would take this in small

30:15

steps, get to a place where we could

30:17

actually have a viable commercial

30:20

fishery, but not on 18,000 tons. There

30:23

was a promise from the feds on

30:26

who should access the cod resource.

30:28

Who should be the primary focus?

30:32

And that was a promise

30:34

from the federal government signed off by

30:38

Prime Minister Trudeau. And they

30:41

failed. They absolutely failed

30:43

to deliver. In fact, it's

30:46

such a precarious position

30:48

now that our

30:51

harvesters believe that this

30:54

cod fishery with the

30:56

introduction of Nafo and Canadian ground fish,

30:58

this could have a very short life.

31:01

We could be back on a closure

31:03

within years. Why

31:06

is a switch from 13,000 tons to 18,000 tons not, in

31:10

your view, good news for the people who

31:12

catch and process those fish? Well,

31:15

first of all, it's really too small to

31:17

have a commercial fishery. We

31:19

had a stewardship fishery on 13,000 tons. When

31:23

they came out with their so-called historic

31:25

announcement, they said it was 18

31:28

plus the offshore quota, which I think

31:30

rounds off to 19,000. That's

31:34

a rollover for harvesters.

31:37

And most of the increases

31:39

have gone to Canadian offshore

31:41

and Nafo. I mean, it's

31:43

smoke and mirrors. It doesn't do much for

31:45

our industry. All we'll get, our

31:48

harvesters will get from these so-called

31:50

increases as maybe an extra two

31:53

days fishing. It's absolutely ludicrous decisions.

31:56

So why do you think the government made this decision

31:58

now? Well, they... they

32:00

were hardball lobbied by the offshore

32:03

Canadian offshore companies no question about

32:05

that. We knew when

32:07

they made that disastrous decision on

32:10

redfish back in January in the

32:12

Gulf of St. Lawrence when

32:14

they transferred most of that

32:17

resource the redfish resource to the offshore companies

32:19

we could expect the same thing from them

32:22

on Northern Cod and

32:25

we lobbied we were in Ottawa we spoke

32:27

to our MPs about the importance of

32:30

not doing this and doing it

32:32

properly this fishery has to

32:34

grow in small steps but

32:36

to introduce a commercial fishery

32:38

on 18,000 tons when we

32:40

used to fish 200,000 tons

32:43

is absolutely ludicrous. What

32:46

did they say to you when you raised those concerns in

32:48

Ottawa? Didn't say

32:50

much at all. We met with

32:52

the Minister of Fisheries I

32:54

met with the Deputy Minister of Fisheries on the

32:56

same issue we met with

32:58

the MPs with

33:00

Newfoundland MPs with complete waste of time

33:04

they couldn't give a commitment but nor

33:06

could the Minister or her deputy so

33:09

we understood the jeopardy

33:11

we're in here and lo

33:13

and behold they make a decision to turn

33:16

it into a commercial fishery what we need

33:18

here is for them to

33:20

rescind that decision and go back to

33:22

a stewardship fishery and at least

33:25

put us in a position where

33:27

the stock is growing people are

33:29

making money we're starting to develop

33:31

the markets but what's what's

33:34

happened here is just a

33:36

travesty. And in terms of the the

33:38

offshore concerns that you have the release

33:40

last week from from the federal government

33:42

said quote six percent of the overall

33:45

total allowable catch is allocated to the

33:47

Canadian offshore fleet end quote that

33:50

doesn't sound you know to those of us who don't

33:52

know the fishery six percent doesn't sound like a lot.

33:55

No it's not a lot but you have your foot in the door

33:57

on a very low quota that's the

33:59

point. They fished their thousand

34:01

tons, they trade off their quotas, they

34:04

are hammering that stock, they're

34:06

at the table at an extremely low

34:08

threshold. Picture this, when

34:11

they left there were fishing quotas upwards

34:13

of 200,000 tons. That's

34:15

quite a lot of fish. But to say

34:18

here's 18 or 19,000

34:20

tons and now we're back into commercial fishery,

34:23

and somebody better smarten up in

34:25

Ottawa. Our harvesters are

34:27

not going to take this lying down. They're

34:30

treating us with contempt in Ottawa.

34:32

It's not the first time, it

34:34

won't be the last time. But

34:37

this crowd here are really putting

34:39

the boots to inshore harvesters in

34:42

this province. And inshore harvesters won't stand

34:44

for it. And Greg, what would you

34:46

say to the six liberal

34:48

MPs from Newfoundland and Labrador who added their

34:51

names to that announcement last week? Well,

34:54

you know, what I'd say to them is, you

34:57

were sent to Ottawa to

34:59

represent the citizens of this

35:01

province. We have 10,000 harvesters,

35:04

we have a couple of

35:06

thousand fish plant workers. For

35:09

God's sake, you could stand up

35:11

for those people. There's only

35:13

a handful of those offshore companies.

35:15

None of them put you in power. They

35:18

may have lobbied you, but the real job

35:20

here is to represent the province. If

35:24

you can't do it, you should resign.

35:27

Greg, I thank you for your time. Neil,

35:29

thank you so much for this. Greg

35:32

Priddy is the president of the Fish, Food and Allied

35:34

Workers Union. We reached him in

35:36

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Thank

35:49

you. It's

36:00

spacious with floor to ceiling windows, lots

36:02

of parking, clean restrooms, ample seating, and

36:04

a variety of food options. So it

36:07

ticks off a lot of the boxes

36:09

any couple might have on their checklist

36:11

as they search for their dream wedding

36:13

day venue. Oh, I forgot

36:15

to mention it's also conveniently located and

36:17

easily accessible by car too. Pretty much

36:19

right on the M25 highway in the

36:22

UK. Because it

36:24

is a highway rest stop. It's not everyone's

36:26

idea of a perfect place to have

36:29

a big day, but for two newlyweds it was very

36:31

much their cup of tea. We reached

36:33

a bride, Stacey Lucas, in Surrey, England. Stacey,

36:37

congratulations. How's married life so far?

36:40

Thank you. Yeah, it's really good. I mean,

36:42

we've been together 16 years, so

36:44

it doesn't feel that much different.

36:47

That's good. It shouldn't. It

36:49

shouldn't. It should be. Yeah,

36:51

but it's nice to all of us to have the

36:53

same surname at last, yes. What's

36:56

all this attention like? It's

36:58

a bit crazy, to be honest. I

37:00

wasn't really expecting much to come of

37:02

my idea that I had, because I

37:04

always said that I would eat McDonald's

37:07

on my wedding day, and I'd

37:10

accomplish that. And most of my family didn't

37:12

even believe that I was going to be

37:14

doing that when I said it. So,

37:17

yeah, it's a bit crazy, but good. And

37:19

not just McDonald's. I mean, you wanted to

37:21

do it at one of these service centers,

37:23

which wherever you are in the world, you

37:26

know, going along a highway, there are stops

37:28

like this. So when was it? At what

37:30

point, you know, as you dream of

37:32

your future wedding, are you a child at the time? Like,

37:35

when did this enter your mind? So

37:37

when I was a child, I always said

37:40

that I wanted to eat McDonald's. And

37:42

then as time went on, and I've been to Cobham Services

37:46

quite a few times, and

37:48

I was just like, you know what? Let's just

37:50

go there. You know, it's got

37:52

something for everyone, and the children

37:54

like it, and you've got good parking, so

37:57

why not? Yeah, these are all these are

37:59

over the years. logical things. I'm wondering though

38:01

if you're also like if McDonald's is calling

38:03

you, are you working towards a contract at

38:05

this point? No,

38:08

nothing as of yet. So

38:11

just walk us through the day because it didn't

38:13

all take place there. Initially when we heard the

38:15

story, we thought maybe it was all there, but

38:17

it was, it was a well planned out

38:19

day. Like all great weddings are. Take us

38:21

through it. Really well planned out. So we

38:23

got married in our family church and

38:26

we had just close family there.

38:28

And then I hired a

38:30

vintage bus to take us to

38:33

Cobham services, which is about a

38:35

half an hour drive. And then,

38:37

yeah, we went to Cobham services. We

38:39

were there a couple of hours. They

38:41

were amazing. They taped off a whole

38:44

area for us and

38:46

family decorated all the tables

38:49

and everything else. And then, yeah, then we

38:51

got the bus back to the church and

38:53

then had a party in the church hall.

38:57

Did it live up to your dreams? Oh,

39:00

it was amazing. They honestly, Cobham

39:02

services went above and beyond to make the

39:04

day how I wanted it to be. And

39:06

the reaction from quite a lot of the

39:08

people there as well, members of the public,

39:11

they just said how much of a brilliant

39:13

idea it was. And your children? I

39:15

mean, Oh, my children absolutely loved it.

39:18

Definitely. Yeah, it's their favorite place to

39:20

go as well. So everyone was happy

39:22

on that day. What

39:24

is it about? I mean, lots of people

39:26

love fast food, certainly. But what is it about a

39:28

location like that? I mean, does it speak to you

39:31

on a deeper level? Like did it bring you? Is

39:33

it a beautiful memory from your childhood? What is it

39:35

about? No, so Cobham services

39:37

hasn't been around for a very long

39:39

time. But I just figured with people's

39:42

different food choices and things like that, it's

39:44

just an easier place to go because then

39:46

I can get what I wanted. And

39:49

every everyone else can just choose whatever food

39:51

that they wanted as well. Instead of sticking

39:53

to the traditional sit down meal. I didn't

39:55

want it to be like that. I wanted

39:57

to do something different that no one really

40:00

done before or no one has done before

40:02

and I think I managed to do that. What

40:05

was your order? I had,

40:07

so they don't do a double hamburger

40:09

which is really frustrating so I ordered

40:12

a double cheeseburger with no cheese. You

40:15

know what you want and make sure you get it. I

40:17

like this Stacy, I like how you operate. Your grandmother had

40:19

a big hand in all of this too, is that right?

40:23

She definitely did, yeah. My gran, she

40:25

organized pretty much the whole thing. She

40:27

worked tirelessly to give us the day

40:29

that we wanted and she fully succeeded

40:31

with doing that and I'm so grateful

40:33

to her. Oh she must have been

40:36

so happy. When she took this

40:38

on and you told her exactly what

40:40

you wanted, was she phased at all? Was she

40:42

surprised? No, definitely not phased.

40:44

No, I take after my mum,

40:46

my gran. Whenever we want something

40:48

we manage to do it somehow

40:51

and we always get what

40:53

we want in the end and that's what

40:55

we did. So yeah, my gran wasn't phased

40:57

or surprised. I didn't ask you about

40:59

a very important thing, your dress. I've seen pictures but

41:01

our listeners haven't. Tell me about that. Yeah,

41:04

so my dress again I didn't go for

41:06

the traditional white wedding dress. I always said

41:08

that I would wear a pink wedding dress

41:11

so yeah it was like a light pink

41:13

on the bottom and then it had a

41:15

white lace on the top and then I

41:17

had a big tiara and

41:19

a white veil as well. Worth

41:22

waiting for all these years? Definitely, yeah,

41:24

definitely. Yeah, 100% but I'm never ever

41:26

doing it again. So

41:29

where does one go on their honeymoon after

41:32

you get married? We're going

41:34

to Portugal in a couple of months time

41:36

so yeah we're gonna take the children go

41:38

for a family holiday. I know others have

41:41

asked you this. We brought up the McDonald's

41:43

question. You've been asked if this was just

41:45

a PR stunt, an ad for Cobham services

41:48

or McDonald's. What do you say? Yeah, definitely

41:50

not. Yeah, I did read a comment online

41:52

earlier and saw a PR stunt comment and

41:54

yeah no definitely not. It's as I say

41:57

it's something that I wanted to do. and

41:59

why not just do it? And I didn't

42:01

ask you about your husband. What

42:04

did the groom think of all this? Did

42:06

he know about this since you've been together?

42:08

He knew about it. Yeah, he knew about

42:10

it. And he wasn't overly

42:12

keen on the idea, but he

42:14

had no choice but to run

42:17

with it. So yeah. What

42:19

was his alternative? What would he have preferred? More

42:21

of a traditionalist, I guess? Probably,

42:23

yeah, just having a takeaway at home,

42:26

knowing him probably. He's

42:28

not one for the limelight. And to be fair, we

42:30

didn't expect to have much of a limelight over this

42:33

and how much it's blown up. But I'm glad that

42:35

we did it. I wouldn't change a thing. You'll

42:38

get a break in Portugal. Is

42:40

there a list of food you want to eat

42:42

there? Fast food, otherwise? Hopefully. Hopefully there's a McDonald's

42:44

there. But if not, I think I'll do them.

42:46

You've got to try to do them. Oh,

42:49

no, no. I'm a fussy eater. Yeah,

42:51

OK. Well, there'll definitely be McDonald's there.

42:53

And I bet you they have some

42:56

great chicken. Well,

42:58

Stacy, congratulations again to all of you,

43:00

your whole family. I appreciate your time.

43:03

Thank you. And thank you for taking the time to

43:05

ring me. I really appreciate it. Our pleasure. Thank you.

43:08

Thank you. That

43:10

was newlywed Stacy Lucas in Surrey,

43:12

England. Thank you.

43:46

Now a story with more twists and turns than

43:48

we could possibly count. It began

43:50

50 years ago this month when a

43:52

Hungarian architect, designer, sculptor, and

43:54

math professor, who are all one

43:56

person, realized he'd created something

43:59

kind of neat. As we counted in

44:01

the New York Times today, the man

44:03

had recently found himself fascinated by cubes,

44:05

which I suppose is the kind

44:07

of thing that might happen to an arcade

44:09

designer, sculpted prof. And in playing

44:11

around with the shape, he realized he'd created

44:13

something other people could play around with too.

44:16

A puzzle that would come to be known

44:18

as a Rubik's Cube. Because his name was

44:20

Erno Rubik. I could have mentioned

44:22

that sooner, but it would have been less dramatic. Mr.

44:24

Rubik's Cube has since become one of

44:26

the most recognized puzzles on the planet,

44:29

which billions of people have tried their

44:31

hands at, including David Calvo of Spain,

44:33

who approaches the task with his own

44:35

particular panache. From our archives, here's Mr.

44:37

Calvo telling former As It Happens host,

44:39

Carol Off, all about it. David,

44:42

I've seen the video of what you

44:44

do. It's quite amazing. Maybe you could

44:47

describe what it is that you're doing

44:49

there. Well, I think

44:51

it's quite easy to describe. So

44:53

I solve a Rubik's Cube with

44:55

one hand while I'm juggling

44:58

two other Rubik's Cube in my

45:00

other hand. Basically,

45:02

I'm solving the cube while I'm juggling.

45:05

Well, it might be easy to describe, but how easy is

45:07

it to do? Well,

45:10

for me, it's not very difficult. And

45:13

I guess that for anyone, if he's

45:16

a constant, if he practices a lot,

45:18

I think it shouldn't be

45:21

difficult to learn. I think it

45:24

looks like something impossible, but nothing

45:26

is impossible. Impossible just means that

45:28

you haven't tried enough. That's

45:31

it. I didn't time

45:33

the length of that video. How long does

45:35

it take you to solve a Rubik's Cube

45:37

while juggling two others? Oh,

45:39

I can solve it in around 40 seconds. 30 to

45:42

40 seconds, it depends. Sometimes

45:46

I go slower, some other times I

45:48

go faster. It depends. You know that

45:50

a lot of people couldn't solve a

45:52

Rubik's Cube that quickly if they were

45:54

sitting down at their desk

45:57

doing nothing else but focusing on that.

45:59

You do know that. Yeah, that's what

46:01

I've been told. Yeah, but it's because

46:04

they haven't practiced enough. That's

46:06

it. How long have you been practicing this?

46:09

Well, I started like

46:11

seven years ago now. Well,

46:13

I started very constantly

46:16

at the beginning. Then I stopped because

46:18

it's just a hobby and as a

46:20

hobby, I don't want to get tired

46:22

of it. So

46:26

you decided to do this while

46:28

juggling. What other ways have you

46:30

innovated Rubik's Keep Solving?

46:33

Some people call me crazy, but

46:36

the thing is I want to, I don't

46:38

know how to say

46:40

in English, to go farther

46:42

and to try to beat myself.

46:45

Well, as soon

46:47

as I could solve it with two

46:49

hands and I tried to solve it

46:51

with one hand and I tried to

46:53

solve it while juggling, I helped solve

46:55

it underwater, holding my breath, surrounded

46:58

by sharks in a swimming

47:00

pool. Well, I don't

47:03

know, I just want to beat myself and

47:06

go any farther I could. From

47:08

2011, that was Rubik's Cuber

47:10

David Calvo speaking with former, as it

47:12

happens, host Carol Off from Bilbao, Spain.

47:41

As it happens, takes a moment now to acquaint you

47:43

with a great Canadian, Lacey of

47:45

Gabriola Island in BC. Hero,

47:48

genius, chicken. Lacey

47:50

is a highline hen. The good folks at

47:52

Guinness have just recognized as the chicken that

47:55

has made the most identifications in a single

47:57

minute. If that doesn't seem like a big deal

47:59

to you, you should. know that an identification

48:01

means that when presented with a pair

48:03

of letters or numbers or beads, Lacey

48:05

accurately packed at the one that her

48:08

trainer had trained her to pack at.

48:11

I mentioned she's a chicken, and

48:13

no less an authority than the

48:15

Nanaimo News Bulletin is dubbing Lacey

48:17

the world's smartest chicken. If

48:19

you're wondering what the world's smartest chicken

48:21

sounds like as she proves her bird

48:24

brain power, listen closely to the closing

48:26

moments of this video that put Lacey

48:28

atop the Guinness Peking Order. Imagine a

48:30

wooden enclosure tense with drama, the trainer

48:33

racing to present each pair of options,

48:35

and Lacey, feathered and focused, pecking nimbly

48:37

at each one. The

48:55

excitement that was Lacey of Gabriola Island proving

48:57

possibly that she is maybe the smartest chicken

48:59

in the world. Perhaps that's our sound of

49:02

the day. You've

49:10

been listening to the As It Happens podcast. Our

49:12

show can be heard Monday to Friday on CBC

49:14

Radio, one after your world tonight. And you can

49:17

of course also listen to our show online at

49:19

cbc.ca.aih or on the CBC Listen app

49:23

or of course wherever you get your podcasts.

49:26

I'm Nick Yochsall. And I'm Chris Howden. For

49:39

more CBC podcasts, go to

49:41

cbc.ca.